Allan in his pooh bath robe

I hope that all the pictures bought us some time on the blogging. Sorry for the delay. We actually managed to get a picture for the "holiday" card (note: not Xmas, but not for any politically correct reason) on Friday and I have been busily addressing envelopes in my free time since then. I'm still not making any promises about when/if they are hitting the mail. I'm just saying that the process has been started. "Holiday" could mean New Year's Day, the Feast of the Epiphany, MLK Day or Super Bowl as far as I am concerned and I defy any one to say anything different.
The boys are eight months old today and doing great. Griffith has learned to blow spit bubbles and he thinks it is the funniest thing that he has ever seen/known/done. Allan seems to be getting over his cold and ear infection (finally) and was smiling all over himself when I got home tonight. Mostly he likes to lay on the blanket and watch Griffith, the perpetual motion machine. Not that Allan is interested in investing that much effort in any thing, but it is pretty fun to watch some one else do it.

Well, we have posted a lot of photos for your entertainment and amusement. This was a long week and a long weekend. And with the holidays and work and everything else (like, oh, you know, sleeping, eating, doing laundry), it has been a little difficult to get the blog updated.
Allan and Griffith had their follow-up flu and RSV vaccines on Monday. Griff had an ear infection, too. Allan had a bad night on Monday and ended up back at the doc's on Tuesday. Seems he got a cold from his brother and was feverish and coughing. Then Allan had to go back to see his opthalmologist. Then, he had a couple of long nights of coughing and sputtering and generally feeling miserable. (Ditto for Mom and Dad. Griffith, the source of the problem, slept like an angel, of courase.) On Friday Allan went back to see the surgeons who put in his peg. (He's doing fine.) He had a bad night Friday night and ended up back at the doctor on Saturday (and missed the UK game). He now has an ear infection as well. Aunt Evelyn hadn't been feeling too well so we all went off to see her (and did a drive by to let John King have a viewing of our very, fine boys.) After a lovely visit with her and Uncles Mark and Dick (and Linda and Bibby,too), we headed back for home. The boys slept the whole way. May all our road trips be so quiet. Griffith slept from about 7:15 p.m. until about 7 this morning. If only Allan had been so cooperative. He just has a hacking, wheezing cough that he can't seem to get rid of, and, just like a regular person, it gets worse at night. He's pretty much slept all day today, recovering from his big trip.
Mom and Griff had quite a time last night. He kept sneezing and shooting snot out all over his face. Just as I would try to wipe it away or suction it, he would suck it all back in and sneeze it out again. The fact that I kept laughing at him did not help the situation. It is no wonder that I didn't become a nurse. The healing arts seem to elude me.
We managed to get Xmas photos taken on Friday night. They weren't wearing the outfits that I bought for that purpose and we didn't get to use the little trees I bought for props, but we got some cute photos and I have even got cards printed from Walgreens. The question remains as to whether I will get them addressed and in envelopes pre-December 25th. Don't get your hopes up. Baby steps.
All is peaceful at the moment. I'm blogging, Allan is sleeping, Griffith is crumpling the Sunday paper that his dad is trying to read. Who could ask for more?

Uncle Mark & Griff (standing)

Griff & Linda

Griffith and Linda had a great time chuckling at each other.

Allan - Santa's elf , Elton John style

Allan in a sparkly Santa hat.

Griffith - shiny in his Santa hat

Griffith - holding his big boy bottle

The boys in their practice photo.

Griffith looking well-pleased with himself.

Griffith and Allan

Big Al poking his brother in the face.

Family photo

The boys, wrestling

The abandoned Xmas photo shoot

The boys in their outfits purchased for their Xmas photo, demonstrating why that effort was abandoned.

The abandoned Xmas photo shoot (II)

Allan - angel baby

Allan, cherub model.

Ready for the weekend

I remember the days when Friday afternoon meant happy hour, a nice dinner out, socializing with friends. These days Fridays are pretty much like any other day except Flora isn't coming tomorrow. Oh well.
It has been kind of a long week. Allan is getting over his cold, but he tends to cough at night. The pediatrician is anti-cough syrup so the little fellow has to hack it out. So, not so much sleep for him or for us. Plus, the little guy had five doctor's appointments this week so he was pretty worn out most of the time. The upshot of all of those exams is that he's doing very well -- his pupil seems to be dilating more, the contact seems to be a pretty good fit, his "peg" has healed nicely and seems to be working as it should. All-in-all good reports.
Griffith is doing very well, too. He's gotten so big. He's eating cereal now and seems very proud of himself. He has learned to squeal which he thinks is about the funniest thing in the world. Especially when he flings his arms and legs simultaneously. He really has the hang of the whole turning himself over thing and can manage to stay seated for a few seconds before doing the Leaning Tower of Pisa off to the side.
No progress has been made toward Xmas photos. I wanted to take one last night - Allan was wailing because I laid him down which I had to do because Griffith had spit up all over himself and the surrounding three square feet. Griffith was furious because he was covered in spit up and I wasn't moving fast enough to address his issue. Not very picturesque but fairly representative of what we have to deal with. If Jay hadn't had the camera in his car, I would have done it.
(That's really unfair. After both boys were cleaned up, they were angels all night and we hung out upstairs, read books and snuggled. Just when you start to think "are there no orphanages? are there no work houses?, they turn sweet and cute and you hang on for another day.)

So on Monday both boys got their follow up vaccines for flu and RSV. They both got weighed and Griffith is now a whopping 13 pounds 2 ounces. Allan is 13 pounds 6 and a half ounces. I am given to understand that they are both nearly one stone apiece. (Whatever that means.) Cute little Becky the Nurse gave them both their shots. Allan seemed to anticipate that this was not going to end well, but poor Griffith was grinning at her like she was his best friend. That she turned on him so cruelly was infuriating to him. He. Would. Not. Stop. Crying. We are talking full-on, howling at the top of his lungs, hardly able to catch his breath crying. It clearly was not the physical discomfort of the shot after the first couple of minutes. Thereafter it was venom, fury and white-hot anger at having been so misused.

Although he hadn't really shown any symptoms, Griffith was starting an ear infection so he's on an antibiotic. Other than that, he's doing great --growing at the proper pace, doing the proper things. He's even been cleared to start cereal.

Allan didn't fare so well. He didn't react very well to the vaccines and at about midnight (none of these things ever happen at 2 p.m.) he started to run a fever, breath faster and cough. And desat, causing the alarm to go off. Apparently he was on a verge of a cold and this just put him over the edge. He didn't sleep for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time all night. (Nor did we.) We took him to the doctor the next day just to make sure that he wasn't getting pneumonia or something worse and that turned out all right. Still, the poor little guy was pretty puny acting. He's bounced back today, though, and is acting more like himself.

He goes back tomorrow to have his eye and new contact evaluated. Dad and I are still not what you would call adept at getting it in and out, but we are getting better (at the risk of jinxing it.)

We continue to consider the possibility of taking Xmas photos, but, frankly haven't had the strength to repeat our earlier efforts. Suffice to say that there will be photos -- eventually.

Well, things didn't go so well with the Christmas photo shoot. Everything was set up and in place, but no one told the boys that they had to cooperate. Neither of them was his usual happy self that morning. If one was looking in the right direction, the other one was crying or had his head turned or was trying to eat fake snow. We worked like field hands for about 45 minutes and then just called it. Took off the cute like overalls and decided we would try later. Every time the camera comes out, things go to hell. You may get a Christmas card. You may get a New Year's card. It may be Valentine's Day or Flag Day for that matter. Just please, please don't ask where your card is.

After we quit pestering them for photos, the boys had a good weekend. Allan and Griff are paying more attention to each other these days. Not that it is always a good thing. Saturday afternoon I had them both on a blanket in the floor with toys between them. Allan would grab something. Griffith would grab from the other side and then he would roll over, taking whatever the toy was with him, deposit on the side away from Allan and roll back over to repeat the process with whatever other toy Allan got. This went on for nearly an hour. We think it is probably a preview of coming attractions.

Allan's contact came and we managed to wrestle him in to and out of it. So far it is a two-person operation. Although he doesn't seem to mind the contact once it is in, Allan is not at all interested in having it put in. And getting it out is quite the rodeo. Still it seems to be helping him track with that eye and we hope that the grudge matches settle down once he is a little more used to the process.

Allan's hearing was tested again today. Before he was discharged from the NICU, they tested him and concluded that he had a fair amount of hearing loss in his left ear. Still, because he was so little, they recommend re-doing the test. Today they have concluded that he has a little hearing loss in each ear, but nothing profound.

Sorry for the delay in posting. We've had a busy week. Jay and I had a night alone in lovely Clarksville, Indiana (there was a convention in Louisville and all the hotels were booked). Allan and Griffith partied like rock stars with Caitlin and Rachel. Caitlin said that Griffith talked all night long.
The immigration interviews went about as well as could be expected. If he gets deported it may be all my fault. I'm not terribly well-suited for responding to those sorts of questions (Q:"Does your husband have any previous marriages? Any other children?" A: "Not to my knowledge." Q: "What?" A:"Not to my knowledge." What more do they expect? He's got about 35 years unaccounted for.... Q:"Does his family like you?" A: "I really can't speak for them, but I should hope so." Q: "Does your family like him?" A: "They seem to." It isn't as if we have asked them directly. They ask you to swear to tell the truth and then look at you as if you have antlers when you do.)
We took Allan to have his eye looked at again and to be fitted for a contact. He did very well. We put it in and took it out and he really didn't fight too much. Of course, we only did it twice and he wasn't sure what was going on. We'll see how it goes once he's figured out what's coming.
Aunt Evelyn came for a short visit and was quite impressed with how big Griffith has gotten (his face has really filled out -- I think that means he's getting fat) and how alert and active Allan is.
Allan has really picked up steam lately. His breathing has been better and, consequently, he is more active. This is manifested in many ways, not the least of which is that he, too, is learning to pitch fits when things don't go to suit him. He will now howl like a banshee when you lay him down and he tried to shout the walls down at the pediatrician's office. I blame Griffith. He's a bad influence. Still it is fun (for now anyway) to see Allan feeling lively enough to act up.
We are going to try to take Christmas pictures this weekend. The odds of everyone being dressed, clean, happy and looking in the same direction are slim, but we are giving it a shot. It may take awhile. They may end up being Valentine's Day cards by the time we are through....

Big Al

Allan and his new hat from cousin Edith.

Griffith in his new toboggan

Griff and great-great aunt Evelyn. And his new hat courtesy of cousin Edith.

The weekend recap -- Thanksgiving.

The boys have had a most excellent Thanksgiving break. The weather has been wonderful and we have taken long walks every day, trying to take advantage of it while we can.
The boys were very disappointed that the Cats blew it against Tennessee, but they wore their hats with pride any way. Who would have thought that the season would have gone as well as it did? And we still have a bowl game to look forward to. And, even better -- basketball season is ready to start in earnest.
Aunt Kathy dropped by on Saturday and immediately pronounced Griffith to be "fat" which made him laugh out loud. She also got to witness a full-on temper tantrum when he decided that his (second) lunch was late. She laughed and laughed and laughed. I think I heard her say something about revenge being sweet. I'm not sure what she meant by that, but I think she is implying that our pride and joy is just a little bit of a handful. Still you have to respect someone who knows his own mind like Grif and manages to convey it so clearly. He can pretty much roll over at will these days and scoots all over the place. He still wakes up happy as a clam and jabbers all the time. Flora swears that he says 'hi' (he does say something close) and that he said "da" today (which I refuse to accept -- it would be very ungrateful of him to do so.)
Allan has been doing just great since his surgery. His eye looks better every day and his belly doesn't seem to be bothering him at all. He still isn't eating much better, but we have been wearing him out with doctor's visits and walks and such. He did eat quite a bit yesterday for his dad -- who was feeding Griffith at the time. Allan kept watching and squawking and would suck down Griff's bottle any time his dad offered it - which then caused Griff to squawk. The two are going to be a little jealous, we're afraid. Still, Allan is a little love bug and snuggles down any chance he gets. He watches his brother when Griff is doing all of this talking and moves his mouth like he is trying to figure out how to answer him. Good luck getting a word in edgewise.
We have doctors' appts and work and immigration appointments today and Wednesday so it may be a while before we post. Enjoy the pictures!

Allan - UK hat (II)

Allan, resigned, as all Cats fans are.

Allan and his UK hat

Allan, irritated that the Cats blew it against the Vols.

Griffith in his UK hat

Griffith, doing what he could to support the Cats.

Griff in his Pooh robe

Allan fell asleep before I could give him his bath. We'll have to get his picture later.

Griffith - looking startled

Since I am always posting pictures of Allan looking like he has been goosed, I felt that I had to post this one of Griffith.

KK and the boys.

Kelly, looking like a real natural.

Happy Thanksgiving !

Here we are at the end of our very first Thanksgiving. It would have been fun to make it back home and have all of the aunts, uncles and cousins doting, but that will have to wait until next year. As it was, we had a good time.
We started early. Some of us did anyway. Allan woke up about 5:30 and by the time he was settled, Griff decided it was his turn. So he and Mom were up until a little before 7. Dad woke everyone up at 8:30 to say wasn't it great that Griff had slept so long. Yes, yes, it would have been great, but he didn't actually make it through the night although we are both delighted to see that you apparently did. To his credit, Dad took Allan downstairs and left Griffith and me to sleep until nearly 10. We gave the boys baths and took some pictures and worked on making a traditional Thanksgiving feast. We ate about 2 (Griff had his first taste of mashed potatoes) and then took the boys on a long, long walk and took photos in Ashland Park. You can see the resulte -- if one was cooperative, then the other one wasn't. Still and all, we had a great time.
We hope you enjoy the photos. We want everyone to see how well the boys are doing and how happy they are. We try so hard to make sure that everyone knows what we are up to because so many people have been integral to getting us to where we are today. There is no way for us to thank every one who has helped us reach this point. There have been, quite literally, hundreds of people who have made it possible for us to enjoy a sunny afternoon out strolling with our boys. People have been so generous with their time and resources and we can not express how much it has meant to us. Thank you.

Thanksgiving 2006 (III)

Allan remains skeptical, as usual.

The boys in the park.

Allan the Unhappy

Allan, not at all cooperative with the photo op in Ashland Park.

Mom and Allan walking on Thanksgiving Day.

Dad and Griff in the Snugli

Dad and Griffith on our walk.

Baby's First Thanksgiving

Griffith - close up

Griffith and his Thanksgiving bib

Griff's bottom

He's even starting to get little fat rolls on his thighs.

Allan - happy 1st Tgiving

Allan, happy first Thanksgiving.

Allan in his pilgrim turkey bib and onesie.

Griffith and Allan - Thanksgiving 2006

The boys in their Baby's First Thanksgiving bibs in Ashland park.

Thanksgiving 2006 (II)

Griffith pulling on Allan by his bib -- you would think their parents would do something about that, wouldn't you?

Happy Thanksgiving I

Griffith pulling Allan by his bib and Allan whinging about it.

Dad and the boys

Griffith. Looking not at all grateful. Fair resemblance to his mother, however.

Thanksgiving 2006

Allan looking not at all grateful. For anything. Fair resemblance to his father, however.

Good night.

Our little family is settled in on the eve of Thanksgiving. We can't really say that it is our first Thanksgiving together as it was the Tuesday before last year when we found out that we were expecting twins. We can honestly say that none of us knew what we were in for. That's probably a good thing.
We are really excited at the prospect of our first holiday on our own. With Jay's family across the pond and mine ruled out for reasons of distance and quarantine (no large crowds, no sick people, no kids under 15), we are soloing. Allan and I are already ensconced in the master suite. He is sleeping, peaceful as a little lamb. Jay and Griffith are downstairs roasting a turkey breast and making some sort of British "side dish" that seems to be link sausages wrapped in bacon and cooked in the oven. I think he called it some sort of Napoleon something or other and I can only assume that it is meant to be derogatory to the French. Still, I am somewhat baffled by the thought of this as a side dish. Generally speaking side dishes here consist of vegetables or starchs of some sort. Don't get me wrong -- as a Southerner and a country girl, I have a great appreciation for the wonder of pork, but this is taking it to a whole other level. The yeast dough is made for the rolls and I will be mashing potatoes and fixing green beans tomorrow. I think we will be all right. Allan's sweetheart, Jennifer, dropped off a chocolate pie tonight so I may postpone making that pumpkin roll for another day.
The weather held for another day so the boys and I went off on another long walk this afternoon (Flora still disapproving, but resigned). Markus accompanied us for part of the way. We walked for well over an hour and there wasn't a peep from either boy. They both dozed for part of the trip, but spent the majority of the time taking it all in very peacefully.
Allan went to the ophthamologist this morning and she is pleased with how his eye looks. He still isn't tracking well with it, but things are probably still pretty hazy to him out of that eye. We go next week to have him fitted for a contact. He has become an expert at slamming his eye shut and wriggling away when you try to put drops in so I can only imagine that wrestling him to put a teeny, tiny contact in will be at least a two person operation.
Allan's opthalmologist had her five month old daughter at the office and we think she was trying to set the two of them up. Little hussy.
They took the stitches out today and his belly looks good. He still owns the World's Most Perfect Belly Button. The peg doesn't seem to be bothering him at all and it is fairly easy to use (it is kind of like the stopper that goes in one of those plastic beach balls). He seems much happier without the NG tube in his nose and throat. His saturation levels have been excellent since we got home and he has not been retching or spitting up. So far the peg seems like a good idea.
Griffith is just a ball of fun all the time. He cracks himself up. Flora swears that he said "hi" today and I may take that as his first word. Unless he says Mama. We just can't have Dada be the first word. I just won't be able to stand that.
Time for lights out up here. Here's hoping that we have a nice, peaceful start to the long holiday weekend.

As you can see from the pictures posted last night, the boys are doing well and getting along most of the time.
Despite Flora's disapproval, we all took a big walk yesterday afternoon (she thought it was too cold) since it was bright and sunny. You would have thought we were going on an Artic expedition with all the fleece, hats, and blankets. Still, they both seemed to enjoy the great outdoors. Or what they could see of it through the small slit that Flora allowed for their eyes. It is another pretty day so we will probably take another stroll this afternoon if Flora hasn't let the air out of the stroller tires. If she had her way, we would all be indoors from now until May.

Home again, home again -- part 3

We have had a very busy weekend. Allan made it home (again) Saturday morning and he has done very well. He hasn't really tried to mess with his eye too much at all. The lids are a little red and a little swollen, but not anything too bad. (Easy for me to say -- it isn't my eye.) The eye drops we are putting in are pretty much the same as before. The only difference is that we put a patch over his eye when we put him to bed at night. His belly is a little tender but Tylenol seems to help that and we hope that clears up soon. He's actually been a little fussy which is a real change of pace for him. His lungs must be much improved because he can really get some decent volume when crossed. He's getting to be pretty demanding, too. A lot like his brother Griffith. In fact, they seem to have developed the uncanny ability to sense when the other is getting ready to have a meltdown which enables them to get tuned up simultaneously. (It sounds a lot cuter than it is.)
The apple juice never did work for Griffith. On Saturday afternoon, I made good my threat to use a glycerin suppository. I dosed him up and headed out to do some shopping and, about 45 minutes later, got a call from Dad letting me know "it worked. Well." Who knew that the response would be so prompt?

So far, so good....

Allan had a good day today. He got to have pedialyte this afternoon and tonight they have started him back on formula. If he tolerates that well, then we hope to get him home tomorrow. He was a little fussy this afternoon, but, all things considered, he really hasn't complained much. The patch came off this afternoon and his eye looks great -- it is a little bloodshot, but no worse than you might have after a long Saturday night out. And it looks so much better without that darned white cataract in the pupil. The lump seems to be much less, too. We have to keep putting drops in it around the clock and, for the next week, unless we are right on top of him, he has to have a guard on it to make sure that he doesn't whack it. The ophthamologist was pleased that he had a good 'red reflex' (the flash back you get when you take a picture) which means that his retina is good and getting light to it. He may have lost some vision in that eye because the cataract cut the light off for a while, but we are pretty sure he has some in it at least because he has gotten really good at blinking at the precise moment when you are trying to put the drops in.
So, while Dad and Allan hang out at the hospital, Griffith and I are hanging out watching Rachel Ray. It looks to me like she is frying stale bread in olive oil. Not really sure why. Maybe Grif has been paying better attention. Flora's attempt to encourage a movement has been for naught so it may be another long night over here.

Allan was extubated this afternoon and has done very well. He looks good and is all wiggly and sassy. I spent the afternoon and Dad is spending the night with him. No word on when he can come home, but he has to be NPO (without food) until tomorrow to give his gut a chance to recover. We imagine that he'll have to stay for a day or so until every one is satisfied that the peg is in place and that he is going to be able to feed. When last I talked to Jay he was watching The History Channel and holding Allan because every time he put Allan down there was a meltdown. It seems to be going around amongst the Richardson boys. I've had a similar night with Ol Griff. We are now working on Hour 18 since I got up. All I wanted was for Griff to take a little nap, let me have a bath and a little dinner and then we would all go to bed. No such luck.
Flora played a nasty trick on me. She is dedicated to regular bowel movements for the boys and decided that Griff had not pooped recently enough. So she tanked him up on apple juice while we were at the hospital today. Then, once I got home, she hit the road. He hasn't had a movement yet, but the poor little guy has worked on it all night long --- wriggling and crying. Every time I put him down, he shouts down the walls. I figure we are due for some epic event some time about 2 a.m. Would one more day have been terrible?

Allan is out of surgery and in recovery. We got to see him for a few minutes. They are going to move him to the PICU as soon as they get a bed ready. We are not exactly holding our collective breath.
The eye surgery went as well as could have been hoped. The cataract came out and the retina and optic nerve look good and undamaged. The lump had gotten smaller and may just be an inflammatory mass. They were able to do a fine needle biopsy and get some cells from it and they hope that they will be able to tell for certain what it is or was. After the eye was finished, they put in a "peg" and that went smoothly, too.
Right now he is still on the ventilator. No word on whether they are going to try to extubate him today or just let him recover a little and give it a try tomorrow.
He will have to wear a little patch over his eye for a week to protect it and then, in two weeks, he'll be fitted for a contact lens. The doctor said it is much easier to put it in and out than you think it is going to be. It would almost have to be easier because I think it is going to be darned near impossible to wrestle Allan twice a day to put it in and take it out.

Still having computer woes. Have to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. First surgery is at 7:30. Scheduled for at least 3 hours. Will try to blog from there, but no promises. Say a little prayer for Big Al.

Allan in his new toboggan

Allan remains skeptical.

griffith's new hat

Griffith in his toboggan that Aunt Kathy made for him.

Griffith and his chain

Griffith loves to sit in his swing and chew on his chain.

The boys holding hands

The boys in their jogging suits holding hands.

Computer woes

Sorry, folks. Been having problems with the computer at home.
At work now, but trying to earn a living.
The boys are fine. We go to see a couple of Allan's doctors tomorros in preparation for his surgery on Thursday. Still no word on what time his procedure will be. They'll call us tomorrow.
I will try to blog some tonight and post new pictures -- if the wi fi is cooperating.

Yesterday was kind of a big day. We had an appointment with the ophthalmologist at UK. Per the suggestions of the big muckety-mucks in Philly, we are going to have Allan's cataract removed on Thursday. No time for the surgery yet. They'll let us know by noon on Wednesday. Great. Thanks. Because the sitting and the wondering isn't enough for a week. Let's just see how much more unpleasant we can make the situation. While they have him under general anaethesia, they are going to go ahead and put in a G-tube (which they call a peg) which goes in to his intestine through an incision right below his rib cage. This will remove the need for the NG tube (the tube through his nose and into his stomach). The reality of it is that Big Al just can't eat p.o. (through his mouth from the bottle) enough to sustain his growth. He is doing well eating from the bottle, all things considered, but he just doesn't have the strength and the lung capacity to eat quite enough. (By way of comparison, not that we do that, Griffith, who weighs 2 pounds less than his brother can eat 5 or 6 ounces in about 20 minutes. Allan, on the other hand, can eat about an ounce or two in that same period of time. )The more he grows, the more he can eat at a sitting, so to speak, but it will be a while before he can do it all p.o. If we had world enough and time, we wouldn't be putting the tube in right now, but the fear is that if we don't go ahead and do it now, then we will be in a position of having to do it in 3,4, or 6 months from now and no one wants him to have to go under again and run the risks of surgery. So we essentially have a Hobson's choice -- any horse in the stable as long as it is that one. He will have to be intubated for the surgery and will have to stay in the PICU until he can be weaned off of it. No one is making any promises about how long this will take. We hope only a day or two.
So what else is going on? Griffith, after weeks of sleeping through the night, has decided to revert to his old pattern of waking up around 3 or 4 for early breakfast or late dinner or first snack or what-have-you. Last night was Dad's turn for that time slot. It is really like gambling -- some nights you get lucky and he doesn't wake up, but, if you aren't lucky, then it can get ugly. Dad thought that he would be clever and maybe, just maybe, wait Griff out (sometimes he will snuffle around, but go back to sleep -- Griffith, not Jay). No dice. Plus, Dad made the mistake of waiting too long to recognize that this was a Red Alert and not a False Alarm. Which meant that by the time that he got the formula heated up and ready to eat, Griff was so furious and was screaming so loud that there was no reasoning with him -- all he wanted was to eat, but he was howling so much that he couldn't swallow. I would like to say that I was able to sleep soundly through all of this, but 1) Griffith has an incredible ability to project and 2) Allan decided that this would be a dandy time to spit up all over himself and his bedclothes. After Igain managed to change him the first time, get him calmed down and get to bed, I had a solid 25 minutes before he managed to do it again. I know now why tigers eat their young.....
Today was a good day, though, they both looked and felt good. The weather was beautiful. The boys each took a walk with me for about an hour a piece this afternoon. The weekend is supposed to turn cold and rainy so we needed to take advantage of the situation while we could.
Aunt Kelly came in from Chicago and brought cute new clothes and toys (two noise makers -- watch out, KK, or I'll buy your kid a wood-burning kit). After a thorough inspection, she pronounced both of the little guys to be perfect. Naturally.
Off to bed for me now. I hope to have new pictures soon.

Griffith - wide awake

This is how Griffith wakes up most mornings -- all smiles.

close up

The boys all snuggled down

Mom and her boys on her birthday

We made it back in about 8 o'clock last night. The return trip took a lot longer than the original. It took us an hour and a half to cover the first 35 miles. If we had known that it was going to take that long, we would have just slept in.
Allan did great on the way back (naturally). He slept most of the day --- the day before was catching up with him, I suppose. He's all snuggled in at home today, though. We go to see the ophthalmologist tomorrow and (we guess) find out then when they can get the surgery scheduled.
Griffith seemed glad to see us, but he's just generally a happy kid. For the first time in weeks, though, he didn't go to sleep early and he didn't sleep through the night. Maybe he just wanted to make sure that we were still there.

And the answer is.....

we still don't know. No joke.
We have been seen by the premier ocular oncologists in the country and, to paraphrase, we've seen one of about everything but we don't know what this is. Great.
Not that they are without a plan or anything. They don't think that what they are calling the lesion is a malignancy, so we've got that going for us. They are mostly concerned with the cataract. So we return home and as soon as we get the all-clear from the pulmonologist, they are going to remove the cataract. It may be that the lesion is spilled lens material from the cataract and that the lesion is related inflammation that will resolce. It may be that it is something else that they will be able to get a better look at once the cataract is out.
Once again, though, Allan performed like a little angel. Everyone raved about how sweet and pretty he is. He causes quite a stir wherever he goes, that's for sure.
By all reports, Griff and Steph had a great time yesterday and Flora hustled her out as soon as she could. Flora is staying tonight so he will be completely spoiled by the time we get back tomorrow.
Even though it is only 6:30, I am ready for bed. Jay has gone out for a walk and to pick up take out. I plan on being out by 8.

Well, we've made it. It is amazing how much nothing there is between here and there. Allan was a doll nearly all day long. He started to get fussy about the last hour and an half or so, but so did I so I can't blame him for that. He is absolutely exhausted and racked out in the Pack n Play. He's probably a little worn out because his girlfriends came calling last night -- Alissa, Jen and Jenny all came by for a visit. All that doting wears a boy out.
Griffith is hanging out with Aunt Stephanie and, according to her, he has been perfect all day long. Flora has called twice to make sure that every thing is all right and to tell Stephanie that she will come right over if Stephanie needs her. She also told her that she will be there early tomorrow so that Stephanie can go on home. Subtle. Very subtle.
We start out at the hospital at 6:30 in the morning and have been told to expect 8 hours of appointments and testing. We anticipate staying here tomorrow night, too, since it will probably be too late to start back by the time we are through. We'll keep you updated as best we can. Wish us luck.